Elisabeth Girgis-McEwen is a professional engineer active in advancement of science for public interest. She has technical expertise in modeling of energy consumption of Canada buildings and combustion of wood. She has worked for over 15 years often as the only women on technical teams. She holds a Master’s of Applied Science and a graduate diploma in public management and governance both from the University of Ottawa. She has received awards from the National Research Council and Natural Resources Canada for advancing energy efficiency in Canada as well as a Bromley fellowship to share in Washington D.C. her observations on stakeholders involvement at the science policy interface. In 2015, she completed an examination of how the underrepresentation of women could be observed through the evolution of public washroom requirement in the Canadian building code requirements. (Spoiler alert : Things have improved!) Her current Master’s of Arts in Public Administration research considers how Canadian provinces make decision on pay and employment equity policies and consider the impact on the retention of engineers who are women. Recently at NRC she has worked on diversity at the corporate level to open conversation. Her latest challenge has brought her to Indigenous Services Canada to support implementation of infrastructure planning reforms.